


Morning's Golden Light

by XVnot15



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Eventual Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, F/F, Song fic, Swan Queen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-14
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-03-07 12:17:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3173536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XVnot15/pseuds/XVnot15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Do not upload copies of any of my fanfic anywhere online. I do not give permission for my work to be archived anywhere other than my own AO3 account, my own FF.Net account, Passion & Perfection, Royal Academy of Bards and my personal journalling accounts. </p><p>A/N 1: A song fic that seemed to spring fully formed from my mind as I listened to an Enya song today…while I was busy working on a completely different, Mirandy, fanfic.  It grabbed me, wouldn’t let go and demanded to be written.   You can listen to the song here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJgbzEGAvzc</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Perchance to Dream

**Author's Note:**

> A/N 2: I stopped actually watching OUaT about middle of season 2. My knowledge of anything after that is parsed together entirely from fanfic, manips and discussions on Tumblr. With that in mind it might be best to see this as an AU fic veering away from the show at that point but spiced with details from later on.
> 
> Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; I make no money from my scribbles. Go on and sue me if you must, I’ll enjoy reading femslash out loud in court just to show TPTB how it should be done.

 

 

The scream was long, loud and the pure essence of human terror, anger and anguish as it carried through the air very effectively waking one Sheriff Emma Swan. The blonde woman bolted up from her supine position on what she believed was her own comfortable bed only to discover herself standing in a dark and ominous wooded glade, a large pile of dry and dead leaves at her feet. The cry broke forth once more, its poignant terror striking the very marrow of Emma’s bones as she cringed in sympathetic horror. She blinked and tried to gather her scattered wits as the cries continued to echo around her.

The confused woman looked down and saw that she was barefoot and clad in what she remembered going to bed wearing, just her tank top and boy shorts. A gust of cold wind made her shiver as she tried to press herself against the large trunk of the nearest tree to get away from its’ icy fingers. Feeling the bark, rough against her skin, she heard the cry once again barely making out the strangled words of ‘no’ and ‘please’ amid the baser animal sounds of pain.

“God damned fucking magic!” She mumbled as she tried to work out where she was and just what the hell was happening this time in the magic benighted town of Storybrooke. Her suspicions immediately flitted to Gold, wondering what the Dark One might be up to now, that Regina herself might be involved in anyway didn’t enter her mind at all.

The desperate cries were now almost constant and Emma stood very still listening carefully and struggling against her visceral wish to block out the distressing sounds so that she could try and pinpoint from which direction the cries were originating. After a minute or two she cautiously headed off, walking slowly, taking shelter from tree to tree and moving as quietly as her chattering teeth would allow she followed the cries which grew louder and more desperate as she moved toward them.

More than ten minutes of stealthy movement brought her to a thick stand of trees growing nearly trunk to trunk as if deliberately planted to be a fence shielding the clearing she could just make out beyond the woody barrier. The tearing cries had morphed into tortured whimpers and sobs as she’d neared this final stand of trees and continued as such punctuated still by pitiful statements of apology and pleas for forgiveness. She continued to search for a larger gap that might let her see better what lay in the clearing. It took a few more minutes for the blonde to find a gap large enough to look through and what she saw had her gasping in surprise and recognition.

In the centre of a circular clearing was a large bed, shaped almost like a divan with a large padded headboard rising up and curling backward, the whole illuminated in silver moonlight. The incongruity of a fancy bed in the middle of a forest clearing accounted for Emma’s surprise, but it was the dark haired female figure writhing and thrashing in the middle of the bed that had been the cause of her startled cry of recognition.

“Regina!”

Even as the name left her lips the brunette on the bed sat bolt upright eyes wide open but unfocused she screamed in anguish.

“Henry, No!!”

The name of her son ringing in her ears the clearing disappeared even as Emma felt herself falling backward landing with a grunt of pain she shook her head and blinked until her vision returned. Completely disoriented, it took her a few seconds to recognize that she was sprawled on the floor of her own bedroom and breathing hard as if she’d just run a marathon. Struggling in the tangle of sheets she’d dragged down with her she managed to twist round to lean back against the side of her bed and ran her fingers through her dishevelled blonde curls.

“Fucking hell! It was a dream. Just a dream.”

Emma scrubbed her face with her hands trying to get rid of the feelings of fear and terror the dream had left behind, repeating over again that it had been nothing more than a product of her nocturnal subconscious. Speaking the thought out loud to the empty room seemed to ground her and distance her from the distress the dream embodied.

Calming eventually she glanced at her alarm clock noting that it was just after 5am, grumblingly she dragged herself up and went to take a shower, she knew she’d never get back to sleep so decided she might as well start her day. She noted that the sun was streaming in around her curtains so didn’t bother to turn the light on as she exited the room and headed for the bathroom.

**  
Six days later Emma dragged her tired body into the Sheriff’s station just after 7am and relieved her father from the nightshift. She tossed her empty coffee cup, bought from Granny’s less than 15 minutes earlier, in the bin with one hand and accepted the large mug presented to her as a morning greeting from her father with the other hand. She brought the mug immediately to her lips and took a long sip of the strong Kenyan blend she’d bought for the station.

“Thanks Dad. I think I’m gonna need a couple gallons of this today, just to stay upright. I sure as hell hope it’s a quiet day.” She slumped in her chair and took another sip before she placed the mug on her desk.

James chuckled and patted her shoulder in sympathy.

“Still not sleeping well huh?”

“I feel like I haven’t slept a wink for a month. I mean I know I’m sleeping, because I’m dreaming, but the dreams are just so real it’s like I’ve been trekking in the woods the whole night and I wake up more exhausted each morning.”

Her father yawned and gave a sheepish grin in response to Emma’s glare in his direction before throwing his jacket on. His daughter had told him about the dreams two days ago, leaving out any mention of the former Evil Queen, when she’d asked if he and Snow would have Henry for the night so she could feel safe taking a sleeping pill to try and get a dreamless night’s sleep. Although her parents had accommodated her readily enough the plan had failed spectacularly and she’d woken up after another vivid dream feeling even more tired than usual.

“Sorry Sweetie, but I have been up all night and it’s time for me to catch a few winks.” He bent and kissed the top of her head.

“Hope the day is easy, call me if you need me, if not I’ll see you tonight. Maybe if you had some herbal tea before bed tonight it might help you sleep easier.” With that somewhat innocuous advice he went on his way.

Instinctively she reached again for her caffeine fix, swallowing several times before putting the mug back down. She’d had the same dream for six nights running. It started, as near as she could guess, the minute she laid her head on the pillow and ended every morning just after sunrise with her waking suddenly on the floor beside her bed. The only detail that had varied in any of the dreams had been the clothes she was wearing, each dream accurately dressing her in the different sleep-ware she collapsed in on that night. The memory of the biting wind had caused her to dress for the dream on the third night when she opted for a sweat shirt and sweatpants, not that she’d noticed any particular improvement in the temperature in that night’s dream.

Later that morning as she refilled her mug for the fifth time, she suddenly wondered if her dismissal of it just being an annoying recurring dream was maybe a little bit naïve of her given that magic now regularly ran rampant in the little town. Maybe there was more to it than her subconscious trying to work through something. Not that she thought Regina was being held captive in the forest somewhere, she’d seen the Mayor out and about town almost every day, and Henry had stayed with his adoptive mother on the first two of her dream haunted nights, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something more to the dreams, something possibly magical.

The more Emma thought about it the more she thought she was on to something, but she needed to ask someone who knew about magic before she could be sure. Trouble was she was loathe to ask Regina because she wasn’t willing to mention the Mayor’s starring role to the woman herself, and because she just knew the infuriating brunette would refuse any kind of answer the second she realised Emma wasn’t telling her every detail about the dream. Emma didn’t kid herself that she could manage to mention the dreams and keep that little detail to herself, the fact was that Regina seemed to have accrued a little bit of Emma’s lie detector super-power, at least where Henry and the Sheriff were concerned. She was also leery about approaching Gold for any kind of help because she had no intention of making any kind of deal with him ever again and she didn’t trust him as far she could wriggle her eyebrows. Technically she supposed that left the Blue Fairy as the only other well-known magic wielder in town with whom she could consult. Truth be told though, she didn’t really trust the secretive Fairy much more than she did Gold, there was just something about the creature that made the hairs on her neck prickle.

A sudden very audible growl of her stomach made her glance at the clock and seeing it was nearing 2pm she decided to head on over to Granny’s for something to eat. Maybe she could pick Ruby’s brains about the dreams, the woman may not actually practice magic but she had a hell of a lot more experience with it than Emma and she was a magical creature herself, so maybe she might have some light to shed on the subject. Decision made Emma headed out the door grabbing her jacket as she went.


	2. Dreaming Is Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma seeks a friends help with her sleeping problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N 1: A song fic that seemed to spring fully formed from my mind as I listened to an Enya song today…while I was busy working on a completely different, Mirandy, fanfic. It grabbed me, wouldn’t let go and demanded to be written. You can listen to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJgbzEGAvzc
> 
> A/N 2: Oops! I thought this story was only going to have two parts, but it just seems to keep writing itself, so it will definitely be at least three parts. My Bad.

Emma made her way to the diner her pace slow her mind wandering to her dreams yet again, trying to figure out what they might mean. She’d already figured that part of it was probably what her subconscious was thinking Regina might be suffering as the older woman dealt with the demons of her past and her concerted effort to stay on the side of good for their son’s sake. Emma could certainly empathise with the strain that would put on Regina, being all too familiar with dealing with the stress of her own demons that demanded she run at the first sign of trouble and her not wanting to disappoint Henry by giving in to them.

The diner’s bell rang when Emma pushed the door to enter the busy interior. She noted almost every table was taken, the lunch rush apparently having extended far beyond the normal 12-2 slot that any other diner experienced. The blonde shook her head as she immediately attributed this aberration to the inability of most of the townspeople to tell time. Snorting at her less than charitable thoughts she made her way toward the booth at the back, the one usually reserved for Ruby and the other diner staff to rest during their breaks. Ruby was just coming out from behind the counter carrying four plates of food and Emma jumped out of her way mid greeting.

“Hey Rubes. No rush for me, I’m gonna crash in your booth, leave me till you get a breather okay?”

Ruby dropped off the food to various customers and waved Emma off to the back of the restaurant with a clipped acknowledgement before she hurried back behind the counter for the next orders. Emma dropped into the booth and slid to the back where she could rest her head against the wall and the back of the booth. Unsurprisingly, she was asleep the second her head hit the padded back of the seat. Almost 20 minutes later Ruby dumped two cups of coffee on the table and slumped down in the seat opposite Emma, snorting as she heard the soft snoring emanating from the sound asleep blonde. The tall brunette gave a wolfish grin and spoke loud enough to rouse the other woman but not for prying ears to hear.

“Hi Regina, our Sherriff sure snores up a storm doesn’t she?”

Emma sat up immediately having registered the Mayor’s name and woke up mid-snore almost choking herself in the process trying to gather her sleepy wits.

“Whaa..Regina..I…”

Emma blinked as she looked for the nightly subject of her dreams, but saw only a chuckling Ruby who quickly pushed the steaming mug of coffee toward the blonde. The blonde scowled at the woman opposite her but accepted the coffee and took the time to take a healthy swig as she surveyed the now considerably emptier diner. Ruby sipped from her own mug allowing Emma a minute to wake up.

“Em, you look like crap girl, what’s up with you?”

“Gee thanks for the pep talk Rubes, remind me to be as honest the next time I see you stumbling out of the Rabbit Hole at 3am.”

Emma took another sip of her caffeine juice and smoothed her hair back with her free hand.

“Actually, the reason I look like shit is what I wanted to talk to you about. I’ve hardly had any sleep now for almost a week, and when I do manage to get to sleep I keep having this really disturbing recurring dream.”

After swearing Ruby to secrecy about the details of the dream, insisting in particular she keep the subject of the dream from her parents in particular, Emma described her dream in detail and shared her hypothesis that it might be magical in nature, especially as it seemed to be evolving slightly each night.

“Other than the vividness of the dream what makes you think it’s magical?”

“Well, there’s the nightly change of the clothes I’m wearing in the dream that matches whatever I’ve gone to sleep in that night. I mean I suppose that might just be my subconscious being really on the ball, but I honestly don’t think that’s the case, and then there’s the details of the wood, it’s always exactly the same, every tree location, size, type, I swear it’s a real place that I’m actually visiting.”

Emma paused, she was a little unsure about sharing her next thoughts, but decided to go for broke and share her latest theory with Ruby.

“Rubes, I think, I mean I was wondering if I might be… Do you think it’s possible to end up in someone else’s dream?”

“Em, we live in the same town as the former Evil Queen and the Dark One, a town that only exists because it was magicked here by a curse. So, I’d say something as simple as dropping into someone else’s dreams would be a walk in the park. Whose dream do you think you’re in?”

Emma thought Ruby was being a bit slow on the uptake given the details she’d shared with the brunette, she thought it was pretty obvious whose dream she was invading every night.

“I think it might be Regina’s. The kid mentioned he thought his mom wasn’t sleeping well recently and she’s the only other person in the dream. I can kind of imagine she might have dreams like this too, she does call out her mother’s name a lot and that woman was all kinds of nightmares.”

“Umm, if you think it’s Regina’s dream that you’re joining, can’t you switch shifts with David and try sleeping during the day when Regina is actually awake?”

Ruby’s suggestion barely made it past her lips before it was met by her friends golden curls emphasising her negatively shaking head.

“Tried that three days ago, stayed up all night and tried to grab some sleep in the afternoon, but it didn’t work, I still woke up totally exhausted. I landed in the forest but the rest of the dream was different, in fact that’s what convinced me this is definitely connected to Regina. Like I said I was in the forest again, but this time it was completely silent, not a single sound, not even the wind. It looked and felt like it was still night, only this time I noticed there weren’t any stars overhead. I hunted for the clearing and found it, the bed was there but Regina wasn’t. The really creepy thing was that the clearing was full of strange dark grey fog shapes that seemed to be circling and crawling all over the bed.”

“Fog shapes? What kind of shapes?”

“Shapes like, well like ghosts I guess, sort of vaguely human, at least from head to waist, they all seemed to taper off below that, like I said, creepy.” She shivered a little at the memory.

“And you’ve not seen these fog people in the clearing before?”

“No, at least I don’t think so, but I never get to look into the clearing for very long before Regina screams and I wake up, and when I’m first looking I’m concentrating on Regina in the bed anyway.”

Ruby ducked her head to hide a knowing smile quite sure her friend wasn’t aware of the wistful, almost longing tone her voice had dropped into as she mentioned the mayor’s name. The blonde pushed her nearly empty mug around the table, not looking up until Ruby asked another question.

“So have you managed to circle the whole clearing? You definitely haven’t missed an opening somewhere that might let you get into the clearing and maybe help Regina. ”

“I’ve definitely been all the way round the clearing, almost all the trees are huge pines and oaks and elms set so close together the trunks touch and the branches form a woven wall. There are two places however where there’s a couple of saplings planted between two older trees, that’s where I was able to see into the clearing, but even they are so close together there’s no way I can squeeze past them.”

Emma paused and looked around before she reached for the top button of her shirt and opened the third button down before pushing the fabric aside to reveal a small scratch just above her left clavicle.

“In last night’s dream I found the gap between a huge tree and the much younger sapling and I tried to push the smaller tree to the side. I lost my grip and some branches whipped back into my face and chest, I felt the sting on my chest and it woke me up before I’d seen Regina. I looked down to see this scratch which was still bleeding at the time. That’s got to mean there’s some magical crap going on dontcha think?”

“Well, it still might not be magical, I mean you might have scratched yourself with a finger nail and that was what woke you up.”

Emma shook her head at the suggestion.

“I thought that myself but the scratch was bleeding pretty hard and there was no blood on any of my fingers, so I don’t think that’s what happened. Like I said, this feels like a real place, not a dream at all. I wonder, I wonder if it’s something like the place Snow and Henry told me about, the one where people who’ve been under a sleeping curse go to sometimes when they dream?”

Emma sat up a little straighter, suddenly hopeful she was onto something that might prove to be useful after a week of dead ends.

“Henry even said he came out of one of those dreams with a burn on his wrist from the fire that was raging in the room he was in with Aurora and Snow. Just like this scratch.” She ran a finger over the broken skin, even more convinced she was right about the similarity of her dream to the otherworld Henry and Snow had described.

Faced with these new pieces of information, Ruby reluctantly admitted that it did look like there was something magical occurring with Emma’s dreams. They both lapsed into a thoughtful silence while they finished their coffees and tried to come up with an idea that might help Emma. Suddenly Ruby sat up and leaned forward, the detail of Emma’s changing clothes in the dream had given her an idea.

“What if you tried falling asleep with something that you could use to get past the saplings.”

Emma blinked at her and gave a derisive snort.

“You want me to go to bed with a chainsaw? What would that do except help me cut my own legs to ribbons. Anyway how is that supposed to help me in the dream?”

Ruby rolled her eyes at Emma’s obtuseness and a little at her derision.

“It doesn’t have to be a chainsaw Em, sheesh! I was thinking if it’s saplings you’re dealing with, maybe an axe or a saw or even a hatchet might work. And I was thinking if you fell asleep holding it or with it attached to your wrist then it might show up in your dream, like your warmer clothes did.”

Emma sat back and mulled the idea over, she could see Ruby’s reasoning easily enough but still wasn’t sure it would actually work, and she really wasn’t keen to share a bed with an edged weapon of any kind, she was klutzy enough wide awake and vertical, she figured asleep and horizontal she’d end up chopping off one or both of her legs.

Ruby seemed to guess where Emma’s thoughts had wandered when she shook her head at the woman who had obviously never had to chop wood for a fire in her life. Not for the first time the wolf thought how obvious it was that, birth notwithstanding, Emma was definitely a child of this world and not the Enchanted Forest.

“Uh Em, you can put a leather guard on an axe or hatchet so you won’t slice a toe off,” The brunette gave a chuckle. “or anything else for that matter.”

Ruby’s chuckle turned into a full blown laugh at Emma’s self-conscious blush and she reached over and patted her hand reassuringly.

“I’m off at six tonight, you can swing past the Inn sometime after seven and pick up our hatchet.”

“Okay Rubes, I suppose it’s worth a try, I’ll see you later then.”

Emma slid out of the booth and headed for the entrance, a little more spring in her step than when she had arrived. She was still beyond tired, but having a plan in place gave her new hope that she might be able to solve this problem and finally get some much needed sleep.


	3. The Stuff of Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You take in only what you bring with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N 1: A song fic that seemed to spring fully formed (But sure as hell not fully written!) from my mind as I listened to an Enya song today…while I was busy working on a completely different, Mirandy, fanfic. It grabbed me, wouldn’t let go and demanded to be written. You can listen to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJgbzEGAvzc
> 
> A/N 2: Oops! I thought this story was only going to have two parts and then three, but it still seems to keep writing itself, so it will definitely be in four parts now, but I promise on the hotness of Lana that it will definitely be only four....I think. Sheeesh! My Bad.

Emma hefted the small hatchet in her hand raising it to inspect the leather guard that covered the blade completely from edge to shaft where it snugly folded over and secured itself in place with two snaps. Examining the small blade she looked up at Ruby and raised a sceptical eyebrow at the grinning brunette.

“You said they were saplings Emma, the hatchet should get you through them.” She snorted before taking a step back and throwing a final bit of advice to the blonde. “Just remember to use the blade end and to take off the leather guard before you start chopping.”

Emma glared at her as she mumbled a less than sincere thanks for the advice and turned to make her way back to her car. A few blocks away from her apartment she glanced over at the small edged tool resting on the passenger seat where she’d tossed it when she got in the Bug. An idea flitted through her mind and she took the next left heading away from her apartment and toward the woods at the edge of town.

Thirty minutes later Emma surveyed her handiwork as she wiped a thin film of sweat from her brow. At her feet lay the fallen trunk and stump of a birch sapling about seven inches in diameter. It had taken her nearly twenty minutes to successfully chop down the small tree with the hatchet. Trying hard to visualise the trees from her dreams, she calculated it would probably take well over an hour to chop through the two young trees in her dream forest, but at least having this practice run had boosted her confidence and added a little spring to her step as she headed back to the car.

The now familiar scream jerked her upright and awake as on so many nights before, but this time she almost lost her balance, stumbling forward when the hatchet, attached to her wrist by a leather belt, swung round her thigh and tangled between her legs. She carefully extricated the tool and pulled it firmly into her grasp before heading at a brisk trot toward the clearing. She made her way round the ring of trees until she came to the two ‘saplings’, noting their girth, she gulped a little and realised that perhaps _sapling_ had been a bit of a misnomer for the two young trees. They were infinitely smaller in diameter than the giants either side of them, but they themselves were each at least a foot or more in diameter. With a small growl of frustration, the blonde carefully pulled off the leather guard and shoved it into the pocket of her jeans. Emma hadn’t been willing to play lumberjack in just her tank, sweats and bare feet, instead she’d dressed the part, retiring to bed in flannel shirt, jeans and work boots and as on all the previous nights, her wardrobe had come with her into the dream world.

Before she started she looked through the small gap noting that Regina was writhing and whimpering in her bed, throwing up her arms to ward off some invisible foe as she turned her head away. As it had done every night for more than a week, Emma’s heart went out to the tormented woman just beyond her reach. Stepping back Emma sized up the trunks in front of her, she chose the larger of the two hoping that she might be able to squeeze through the gap it would leave. She decided not to try to chop as close to the base of the trunk as she had with the practice tree earlier instead she placed the hatchet blade against the trunk just about level with her waist and pulled her arm back before muttering under her breath.

“Okay, here goes nothing.” Before she brought her hand forward again she looked into the clearing and whispered. “Hold on Regina, I’m coming for you.”

Emma swung the small axe one handed, the small haft not really long enough to wield it with two hands and watched as wood chips dropped from the trunk. Swapping hands to use her less coordinated left hand when blisters formed and then burst on her right hand, she worked without pause or rest, determined to get through this annoying barrier. She grinned when she felt the tree sway with her latest strike, pausing, Emma embedded the hatchet into the second tree and began to push the trunk with her shoulder and hands, ignoring the sting of her broken skin. Fully engrossed in her task, Emma did not notice the unearthly howl that came from a spiked mass of grey fog that swirled and dipped as it moved from around Regina and the bed and swept over the floor of the clearing headed in her direction.

With a cry of victory the blonde heaved and the trunk crashed forward into the clearing causing her to stumble backward ending bent over with her hands on her knees. She took a moment to catch her breath and shake out the pain in her damaged hand before straightening to survey her work. She smiled triumphantly when she saw that the gap would indeed be large enough for her to squeeze through and she wouldn’t need to bother with the second tree. Emma moved forward to climb over the stump, heeding her gut feeling to reach out and grab the hatchet as she passed it. Using the trees either side for leverage she climbed up and jumped into the clearing, her focus remained steady on the bed some 30 feet in front of her where Regina lay curled into a foetal position.

The minute her feet touched the grass inside the clearing, the swirling grey forms either side of the new gap coalesced into recognisable human forms from the waist up at least, and circled Emma all screeching the same phrase.

“Evil must suffer! She is ours! Ours! Ours!”

Emma backed up against the stump with a look of horror etched on her face as she recognised some faces in the large crowd of screaming demons who pressed closer round her preventing her from moving any further into the clearing. The larger mass continued to chant their ownership of Regina and that she needed to suffer as they had done, but the faces that Emma recognised came closer and taunted her with more detailed claims.

A young man swooped forward his face a mixture of rage and pain.

“I only loved her and it killed me. She killed me. I died for loving her. I died for loving evil. She must suffer for my death! She is mine!”

The figure swept its arm out and struck Emma across the cheek before she could raise an arm to stop it. She raised her hand to her face and her fingers came away bloody.

A figure looking like Graham came forward and merely howled a single word.

"Mine!"

He said it again and again in her face before slipping away.

Next there was Gold, or more accurately Rumplestilskin, his skin golden and calloused like the crocodile Hook believed him to be, he pranced forward and his howl came out in a sing song tone.

“Magic comes with a price dearie and its Regina’s price to pay, again and again and again.” He cackled maniacally and continued with a chant of, “Mine! Mine! Mine! Pay! Pay! Pay!” before lunging forward and striking Emma in the gut causing her to double over from the pain.

When she could breathe again Emma used the trunks of the trees behind her to pull herself upright before clutching her stomach. When she finally raised her head the sight of her son’s face made her reach out a hand that was viciously batted away by the Henry faced demon who shouted in Henry’s piping voice.

“She’s not my mom! She’s the Evil Queen!!! The Evil Queen! Why haven’t you destroyed her!? She’s Evil!! She’s Evil!! Evil has to loose!!! Villains don’t get happy endings!! Destroy her Emma! ”

Emma’s attention was pulled away from the angry face of her son to Regina on the bed who was thrashing and moaning, “No Henry! Please! I love you! I’m sorry! So sorry!”

The older woman’s distress caught at Emma’s heartstrings and she tried to reason with the image of their son.

“No Henry! She’s your mom and she loves you! Do you hear me? Regina loves you! Everyone deserves a second chance Henry!”

She stumbled back again as the small demon raged forward landing blows all over her torso, while the range of his punches reflected his small size, the impact was more like that of a prize fighter and Emma doubled over to protect herself from his onslaught. When she managed to look up next she instinctively tried to push backward despite the barrier of trees in order to get away from the next demon. Larger than all the other’s the smirking, cruel face of Cora Mills towered over the blonde.

“Idiot girl! Regina is mine! Wretched, useless, ungrateful, but mine!! Even in death I must correct her foolish behaviour!” The demon swooped in and plunged it’s hand into Emma’s chest as it hissed. “Love IS weakness! Love IS Weakness!!”

Emma felt her heart constrict in the demon’s grasp, but just as had happened in the Enchanted Forest, when Cora tried to pull it through her chest, the Saviour’s steadfast heart wouldn’t budge. A surge of strength ran through the blonde as she grasped the demons arm and growled at the image of true evil before her.

“Love is strength! Strength to sacrifice! Strength to forgive! Strength to…”

Movement beyond the demon’s shoulder caught her eye and she glanced over at Regina who was sitting up in the bed watching her mother and Emma with a look of such pain, sorrow and anguish that it nearly took Emma’s breath away. Emma refocused on Cora and squeezed the demon's arm viciously immediately feeling it release her heart.

“Strength to claim! Strength to Save! Regina is MINE!”

With her final shout that laid claim to the tormented mother of her son, Emma gave a mighty tug of the arm in her grasp pulling it forcefully from her body. As the demon’s fingers left the centre of her chest, Emma seemed to remember the weapon in her other hand and made a mighty sweep, burying the hatchet in Cora’s chest, relishing the surge of satisfaction the action provided her for only a moment before all hell broke loose.

Cora looked down at the axe sticking from her chest, she reached up and pulled it out even as she raised her head and let forth a howl of rage. The howl brought the other demons in to swarm the blonde as they swung and scratched and pushed the blonde back toward the gap in the trees. Emma swung out at the demons as best she could while trying to protect her face and head from the multiple blows that rained down on her from all sides. Even as she fought she tried to call out to Regina that she was coming for her, she would save her.

For a split second there was a gap in the attack and Emma looked over to the bed locking eyes with Regina silently trying to reassure her that Emma wasn’t going to give up on her. The demons redoubled their attack and before she realised it the back of her legs hit the stump and she was being pushed over it and out of the clearing.

As she fell she heard the demons howling their triumph to the black starless sky above and behind that she heard Regina’s distressed voice in the distance crying out, “Noooooooo!!!!”

Emma responded to that wail of anguish, calling out the brunette’s name until her back hit the ground while her head hit a rock tumbling her into oblivion.


	4. Dreams Will Find You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chased from Regina's dream by the older woman's demons, Emma finds the waking world has new challenges for her to battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N 1: Oh for corn’s sake! This was supposed to be a two part drabble and it just keeps spiralling into more and more. I blame Jehc and her muse who is making her write something she never intended to, her muse has obviously conspired with mine and now my muse is doing the same thing. Sheesh! I now have no clue how long this thing is gonna be! So no more estimates, just strap in for the ride if you feel up to it. ;-)
> 
> A/N 2: A tip of the nib to Joy May on the FB SwanQueen page for her suggestion of ring tone.

The phone rang for the third time in as many minutes, its perky tone blaring out, ‘I’m a Believer’ incessantly, each refrain getting louder as it rang. The annoying sound was only just beginning to penetrate the consciousness of the blonde curled up on the floor beside her bed cradling her bruised and battered body. The phone began its fourth rendition after only a few seconds respite and Emma finally opened her eyes very slowly before trying to straighten out her body. Attempting to brace herself against the bed to get to an upright position, Emma tried to take a deep breath only to end up gasping in pain as she clutched her ribs trying to ease the searing pain that expanding her lungs so much had caused.

Working through the pain with short pants she managed eventually to reach up to her nightstand and retrieve her phone answering the fifth call as she brought it to her ear. She brought her free hand up to her facing tracing gingerly along the 3 inch gash along her cheek before her attention was yanked back to the phone.

“Emma!” Henry’s panicked voice cracked through the connection.

“Where are you!? You’ve gotta come quick, something’s wrong with Mom!”

The high pitched tones of the very frightened little boy cleared the last of the fogginess from her mind but also caused her to move too quickly causing her to gasp and utter a pained moan.

“Ma? What was that? Are you okay? Ma! Are you there? Come on speak to me…”

Henry was truly frantic now and Emma knew she needed to answer quickly and get him calmed down.

“I’m okay Henry, I fell out of bed but I’m...well I’ll be fine. What’s wrong with your mom?”

She was met with a confused rapid fire flow of facts her battered brain just couldn’t sort through or absorb.

“Whoa, slow down Kid, I can’t understand what you’re saying. Look are you safe? Are you or Regina in any danger?”

“I’m okay, but Mom won’t wake up. I’ve shouted and shaken her but she won’t wake up.”

Emma’s heartstrings tugged at the mixture of worry and forlornness in her son’s voice.

“I want you to take a deep breath and try to be calm. Start from the beginning and tell me everything in the order it happened, don’t leave anything out, okay Henry?”

The blonde half smiled when she heard Henry draw in a noisy breath and let it out in a rush followed by another avalanche of words.

“Slowly, kid.” Holding her torso with one arm she limped to the bathroom and grabbed a face cloth wetting it and holding the soothing coolness to her damaged face. Moving back to her room she opened the closet and grabbed her jacket, one ear still on the phone in her hand she struggled with the leather trying unsuccessfully not to pull on her ribs.

“I woke up when I heard Mom calling out my name; I thought she was calling for me so I went to her room. She was groaning and calling out a load of names I didn’t know. I came into her room and she was rolling around on her bed, she was crying and calling out for her mom and I went and tried to wake her up but when I touched her she pulled away and nearly rolled off the bed.”

Emma had finally managed to get her jacket on and was heading down the stairs the phone still pressed to her ear continuing to listen to Henry as she searched for her car keys.

“I shouted for her to wake up, but she just kept crying out and saying sorry till she suddenly sat up straight and just screamed out No!” His voice faltered and Emma could hear a small sniffle through the earpiece.

“Her eyes were wide open but she didn’t see me at least I don’t think she did. Then she just fell back on the bed and she’s all stiff and she won’t wake up. I’ve been really shaking her but she won’t wake up Emma.” He gave a little hiccup as he tried not to let his tears free.

“Henry, I’m on my way, okay, just hang in there, I’m in the car and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Please hurry Emma.”

“I will Kid. I’m gonna hang up now because I need to drive. Okay?”

“Okay, but hurry.” A very audible little sob was followed by a whispered, “I’m scared Ma.”

The sobbed admission acted as a loadstone to the blonde’s foot pulling it and the pedal under it to the floor gunning the little bug’s engine. Intent to get to her son and his mother as quickly as humanly possible, she pushed past the agony of her damaged ribs and other injuries as if they didn’t exist. Less than 10 minutes later she was at the mansion banging on the front door for Henry to let her in, only just managing to brace herself when the door was torn open and a small body barrelled into her latching on and squeezing so hard she couldn’t stop the yelp of pain the embrace elicited. Too focused on the comfort of Emma’s arms wrapping round him, Henry missed the flinch and the yelp and even the gash on Emma’s cheek and only disengaged to grab the blonde’s arm to drag her inside and up the stairs.

Henry ran, his youth and urgency making up for his shorter legs and Emma was forced to take the steps two at a time just to keep up, not that she was any less intent to get to Regina than their son was, taking the lead as soon as they hit the upstairs hallway and pushing into Regina’s room without any hesitation Henry following right behind.

Regina lay on her back her legs trapped in a tangle of sheets and the duvet and her arms by her sides hands clenched, her eyes were firmly closed and her body painfully rigid. Emma moved to the bed and sat down beside the woman whose dreams she’d been sharing for more than a week.

“Regina?” Emma whispered before she cleared her throat and spoke with more volume. “Regina, wake up!”

Emma took the brunette by the shoulder and shook her till the bed bounced. Regina’s only response was another whimper and the tiniest movement of her head. Emma tried again, fighting her own rising fear, this time she noticed a slight loosening of Regina’s muscles when the blonde took hold of both her upper arms to shake her, but she still didn’t waken. Part of Emma wasn’t really surprised at this; she instinctively knew that Regina’s current condition was somehow connected to her own actions in the woman’s dreams. She knew what was tormenting the older woman and she was desperate to safe her but had no idea how to do it.

“Why can’t you wake her up?” Emma looked up to be met by the pleading look in Henry’s eyes. “You’re the Saviour, can’t you save her too?”

Emma was at a complete loss and knew she was totally out of her depth but she pulled Henry to her and tried to reassure him.

“I’m going to try Kid, I promise, but I think I’m going to need some help.”

“Mom said you’ve got magic now too, can’t you just wake her up with that?”

“Henry, I may have some magic now but I have no clue how to use it yet.”

She looked mournfully down at Regina, thinking how the brunette had offered to teach her how to use her new ability only for her to rebuff the offer not wanting to deal with yet another forced change in her life. Emma pulled her hand through her tangled hair in frustration realising what a selfish idiot she’d been and truly wishing she’d taken Regina up on her offer. She reached down and touched Regina’s arm, mentally whispering her regret to the sleeping woman.

Henry stayed in her loose embrace but reached out to gently stroke Regina’s arm right beside where Emma had left her hand.

“Please wake up Mom. Emma and I need you.”

Emma touched her good cheek to the top of her sons head as she murmured her agreement. Mothers and son stayed this way for a few minutes giving Emma some time to think about next moves. A squeeze from Henry brought her back sharply to her injuries and her mewl of pain seemed to finally draw the boy’s attention to her physical condition. His eyes grew huge as he actually took in the two inch gash across her left cheek, a myriad of small scratches and cuts on her face and neck and the swelling around her right eye that promised to be a prize winning shiner some the morning. He noted the way she was sitting, favouring her left side with her arm held stiffly under her ribs trying to give them some support as she breathed.

“Um, Emma, did you fall down the stairs when you fell out of bed?”

“Cute Kid. No, um this..” She waved her hand at herself and then vaguely toward Regina. “It’s kinda connected to your Mom I think.”

“What, how?” His curious gaze bore into her.

“I will tell you Henry, but like I said first we need some help.” She fished her phone from her pocket and hit speed dial.

“Hey David. I need you to come over to Regina’s ASAP, we’ve got a problem. No, Henry’s fine. Yes I’m, well kind of… well it’s complicated, just get over here as soon as you can, oh and pick up Ruby on the way. Yeah, I’m just gonna call her, you may have to wait for her to get dressed but she’ll come.”

Her attention wavered when Regina began moving on the bed beside her, writhing and moaning she began to swing her arms catching Henry on the leg and causing him to jump away from the bed, eyes big again with worry. The disruption nearly made Emma miss David’s next comment.

“What? No, No don’t bring Snow, not right now anyway, just let her sleep. Yeah, I’m sure.” Emma ducked just in time to avoid another swing of Regina’s arm. “Listen can you call Ruby instead, I’m kind of stuck with something here.” Another swing from an increasingly agitated Regina caused Emma to lose her hold on the phone and injudiciously lunge toward the floor to pick it up. Pain shot through her side and before she could censor herself she let rip with a string of foul language that had Henry more goggle-eyed than his comatose mother.

Finally getting herself under control and the phone back in her hand Emma tried to calm her now agitated father who’d been seriously spooked by Emma’s cursing.

“It’s okay David, everything’s fine, I just dropped the phone and bent down too quick to pick it up. What? No! Look I’m fine, I just need you to get here Okay? Great, see you soon.”

Tossing the phone on the bedside table Emma made a grab for the brunette’s flailing arms and tried to calm the obviously distressed woman. At first Regina continued to struggle against Emma’s grasp but the blonde kept speaking to her, keeping her tone soothing and not letting any of her pain and discomfort show in her voice until eventually Regina ceased her struggle. Her arms fell to her sides but her head continued to move restlessly and Emma noted the trickle of a single tear escape from beneath her tightly shut eyelid.

Emma reached over and gently wiped the moisture away allowing her fingers to stay and gently stroke over Regina’s cheek, seeking comfort for herself as much as trying to impart it to Regina. Henry moved closer again and leaned into Emma’s side, her arm automatically circling his waist.

Not really thinking about what she was doing, Emma reached out again and smoothed away the dishevelled locks of rich brown hair away from Regina’s face. She smoothed the hair back again and again; the rhythm of her stroking fingers seemed to quieten the distressed woman. As she continued the soothing motion Emma began to hum a tune she hadn’t heard or sung for over ten years, not since the day she’d held her new born son in her arms.


	5. Caught in a Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if you get caught in the nightmare trapped by a dreamcatcher?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N1: Just to note, this story takes place post curse breaking, post Emma/Snow in FTL and post advent of Cora and Hook. I diverge from canon in a number of ways including having Emma never thinking for a second that Regina had killed Archie and with Snow intending to kill Cora with the candle, but Regina beating her to it, She had no intention of allowing Cora anywhere near her son or allowing her to gain the powers of the Dark One and knew that killing her was the only way to truly protect Henry. Snow throws this action, an action that actually saves Snow’s grandson and entire family, in Regina’s face several times in the aftermath. (She doesn’t know about Regina’s father.)

Emma and Henry jumped at the sound of the doorbell followed instantly by a barrage of furious knocking. Emma sent Henry to answer it telling him to double check through the window first to make sure it was David and Ruby and not to let anyone else in if it wasn’t. A few minutes later Henry was back dragging David by the hand with Ruby bringing up the rear. Emma stood and faced the newcomers eliciting tandem exclamations when they took in her battered and weary appearance.

“Spirits of the wood, Emma what the hell happened to you?” Ruby’s query rode rough shod over David’s simple exclamation of his daughter’s name.

“Let’s just say that your hatchet was great against a tree, not so great against what else was waiting for me.” Emma addressed Ruby but put her hand out to slow David’s concerned advance.

“Don’t get freaked David, I’ll be fine really. Trust me I’ve had worse.” Although her parents were constantly badgering her to call them Mom and Dad, Emma felt ridiculous addressing people who were now younger than she was by those titles and resolutely stuck to using their names.

David didn’t back down, titulary aside, this was his daughter and he was damned if he was going to hide his worry. He reached to cup her damaged cheek, that fatherly concern evident in his gentle touch and in his eyes.

“What happened? What’s this about a hatchet?”

“What’s with Regina?”                                      

Ruby interrupted before Emma could answer one way or another bringing everyone’s attention back to the unconscious woman on the bed beginning to thrash and moan once more. Working on instinct Emma immediately sat down and took Regina’s hand holding it firmly with one hand while caressing it with the other, the brunette whimpered pitifully but stilled her movements instantly.

Emma kept hold of Regina’s hand and instructed David and Ruby to pull the small chaise and the chair from the vanity over so she could talk to them. Henry sat down at Emma’s feet, leaning partly against the bed and partly against his mother’s legs, garnering as much comfort from her proximity as his other mother seemed to be doing.

Emma filled David in on the details of her dreams and all the events of the preceding week and more, being quite thorough with the particulars of the dream that had left her considerably worse for wear. Remembering Henry’s presence at her feet, she omitted mentioning the demon with his face from the description. She kept hold of Regina’s hand the entire time, occasionally moving her stroking from the back of the older woman’s hand to her inner wrist and up her lower arm; the actions grounded Emma and helped her concentrate. Her story finally told, she ended with a question for her father.

“Do you think it’s a sleeping curse David?” From her experience when Henry was under such a curse and the descriptions in Henry’s book Emma thought it was unlikely that it was something as _Fairy Tale_ - _mundane_ as a sleeping curse, but she wanted David’s confirmation of her suspicions.

David studied the prone form of his onetime nemesis, the woman so many of the townsfolk, including his wife, hated and despised and still called the Evil Queen. Part of him loathed her and the damage she’d wrought with her curse, to him, his family and so many others, but part of him had always reluctantly credited her with being the catalyst that had actually brought he and Snow together. If Regina hadn’t banished Snow and made her a fugitive and outlaw, they would never have met, never have realised their love for each other, as twisted as the logic was, part of David had always been grateful to her for bringing his true love into his orbit.

Added to that long time polarity David had seen first -hand how much Regina had changed since the curse had been broken. He’d seen her save Henry at the stables sacrificing any lasting hope of being reunited with her long lost love. He knew how she’d risked her own life to bring Snow and Emma back through the well, how she’d battled beside Emma against Hook and Cora and their minions saving everyone in Storybrooke by defeating and killing her own mother. Unlike his wife, David had witnessed the event and had seen the genuine anguish and regret on Regina’s face when she’d held her mother’s lifeless body before she disappeared. Since then he’d been impressed with how she’d been working to keep her promise to Henry and getting along so well with Emma to take care of their son.

 _‘Their son,’_ the phrase resonated in David’s mind with force when he refocused on the tableau in front of him. Regina whimpering slightly but calmed by Emma’s touch as the blonde continued her soothing ministrations a look of real pain and concern for the prone woman’s condition evident on her battered face. Between them their son sat, one hand around Emma’s leg and one reaching up on the bed to touch Regina’s hip, hanging on to his family, needing that connection to both his mothers.

“David?”

The man, still fixated on the idea of his daughter forming a family unit with his age old enemy missed Emma’s questioning prompt causing her to repeat his name with a little more emphasis.

“Earth to David, a little help here please.” Nothing. “Yo Prince Charming!” Still getting no response Emma tried once more to garner his attention.

“Hey Dad!”

The sound of the title he so wished Emma would use all the time finally snapped him out of his reverie.

“What? What did you say Emma?”

“Sleeping curse?” She waved toward Regina and raised her eyebrow.

“Oh right. Um, no I don’t think it’s a sleeping curse. The victim in that case slips into a death like state, essentially their body is frozen in time, it doesn’t age, no movement, no breath or heartbeat.”

“Yeah, figures it couldn’t be something we already know about and might be able to do something to fix.” Emma grumbled dejectedly before trying to adjust her position on the bed. The jostling pulled on her ribs and she hissed in pain before she could stop herself.

“Emma, I think you’ve maybe cracked or broken some ribs. We need to get you to the hospital and get you checked out.”

Emma straightened and anger and frustration made her raise her voice and forget her restraint on her language.

“No! What I need to do is find out what the hell’s happened to Regina, like right the fuck now so I can fix it!” She looked down at the brunette and finished off in a quieter voice. “You have no idea how much she’s suffering.”

Ruby and David met each other’s gaze both making the wise choice not to voice their mutual thought that perhaps the former Evil Queen really had that suffering coming to her given her past actions. They watched Emma resume her soothing touches to the whimpering figure on the bed for a few minutes before refocusing her attention back to them.

“We need to find out what kind of curse this is and how we can break it. So, as much as I hate the idea, I guess we need to go and talk to Gold and Blue and see if they know what’s going on.” Her look turned grimly thoughtful before she growled out.

“Of course it was probably one of them that cast the damned thing so we aren’t likely to get a straight answer from them even if we ask.” She chuckled darkly. “Mind you, there are ways and ways of asking.”

David was a bit taken aback by the sinister turn of her tone and the fact she’d lumped the Blue Fairy and the Dark One together as if they were both as bad as the other.

“Surely you don’t think Blue did this? She’s a fairy Emma, fairy magic is good magic.”

“Yeah? Did she use her good magic to help you find Snow? Did she even once raise a fucking wing to prevent any of the horrible things that happened to you and Snow, or Belle or Regina or anyone else for that matter? Look what she did to Grumpy and Nova!” She paused for a breath. “Did she ever grant a wish that wasn’t strung up with as many conditions as any one of Rumpelstiltskin’s deals?”

David’s immediate reply stalled while he considered what Emma had said, but it was just too much of a world view change for him to deal with, everyone in the Enchanted Forrest knew Fairies practiced good magic. Grasping at that belief he answered Emma’s accusations.

“Well Blue has never used her magic to hurt someone.”

Emma jumped up from the bed ignoring the pain this caused and glared at her father before grinding out a truth that shot David’s claim down in flames.

“Tell that to August.”

The room fell into an awkward silence for a few minutes before David slumped and hung his head, forced to acknowledge Emma had a point.

Ruby felt it was time she got them back on track and stepped forward putting her hand on her friend’s shoulder. She noted how the blonde stiffened under her touch, she knew Emma was going to object to what she was going to say and jumped in to pre-empt her further protests.

“Look whatever curse she’s under and no matter who cast it, you’re not going to be any help to Regina in your current state. Besides, it’s like four in the morning, way too early to consult or confront Mr Gold or Blue.”

She squeezed the blonde’s shoulder reassuringly.

“You’re not in this alone Emma, we’ll help you, you just have to let us.”

“Whatever you need from us Emma, you’ve got it.” David moved forward and placed his hand on her other shoulder capturing the blondes gaze, acknowledging he’d taken on board what she’d said. “I may have to rethink a few of my beliefs, but I’m with you in this Emma, whatever needs to be done I’m right behind you. I promise.”

 

Henry, who’d remained on the floor beside the bed got up then and took hold of Emma’s hand gaining her attention instantly.

“Let Gramps and Ruby help us Ma.”

Emma’s eyes watered a little at his continued use of the parental term.

“That’s why Mom turned evil, because she didn’t have a family who loved and cared for her or would help her.”

He pulled Emma forward and placed her hand in Regina’s then covered them both with his much smaller one before smiling up at Emma.

“But Mom’s gonna be okay this time because now she does have a family who cares, now she’s got us.”

Emma pulled her son into a tight embrace murmuring her vehement agreement. It took Emma a few more minutes to allow herself to process the fact that for the first time in her own life she had people to help her, and what’s more she’d actually reached out and asked for that help. It felt strange and a little scary, but she knew she was out of her depth and if she was going to save Regina than she needed to suck it up and get on with things.

“Alright, I’ll go to the hospital, and I’ll let them patch me up, but as soon as that’s done I’m going to Gold’s shop.”

Ruby breathed a relieved sigh that her stubborn friend had decided to be reasonable. Now to get things into gear and everyone going where they needed to, knowing both David and Emma, if she left it up to them, they’d still be here in the morning. She mentally chuckled to herself, hearing Granny’s voice saying the Charmings probably couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery.

“David you should take Emma to the hospital and I’ll stay here and take care of Regina and Henry. When Emma’s been taken care of call me and we’ll make further plans.”

“But I want to go with Ma.” Henry piped up in protest over the arrangements.

Emma sat back down on the bed so she could be eye level with her son.

“Henry I need you to stay here and help look after your mother. I think her dreams might get bad again and it looks like the only thing that calms her nightmares is if you, me or both of us is touching her. So you see, if I have to be away for a while, it wouldn’t be fair on your Mom not to have some kind of comfort. Do you think you can be in charge of that while I’m gone?”

Henry straightened up smiling at this acknowledgement not just of his importance but at his being trusted to do something important to help his Mom. He moved in and hugged Emma, careful this time to be gentle around her injuries.

“Sure Ma, you can count on me I’ll take care of Mom.”

He yawned and blushed a little when his jaw cracked immediately in a second yawn, then he glanced behind him.

“I’ll pull the couch right beside the bed so I can hold Mom’s hand and be near her even if I fall asleep.”

David helped Henry move the chaise so that it was right against the bed allowing the boy to scramble up and make himself comfortable before he gently taking Regina’s hand his and bringing them to rest on his chest.

Emma smiled down at her son and bent to kiss the top of his head.

“I knew I could count on you Kid.”

Moving on instinct Emma bent further down to whisper in Regina’s ear.

“Be strong Regina. I will save you, I promise.”

Having relayed her message of hope, it seemed the most natural thing in the world for Emma to drop a soft kiss on Regina’s temple before she stood up and faced the other two adults in the room. She didn’t know if they’d noticed her action or not but decided she didn’t care either way. Grabbing up her jacket she headed for the door.

“Come on David, let’s go. Rubes we’ll call you when we’re done and let you know where we’re headed next.”

With David and Emma gone, Ruby went to the small book case near the wardrobe and chose a book that looked like it might be interesting. She pulled the chair she’d sat in earlier underneath the standing lamp near the window and settled in to watch over Regina and an already sleeping Henry.


	6. Plans in the waking world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dawn breaks and plans are set in motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “My sleep wasn't peaceful, though. I have the sense of emerging from a world of dark, haunted places where I traveled alone.”   
> ― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay
> 
> A/N1: Shout out to Jehc for her patient nudging to keep up with this fic, she’s a very effective nudgenik.

Emma carefully pulled her shirt back on favouring her ribs as much as she could before slowly buttoning the front.

“You can come in now David.”

Her father ducked his head around the curtain to see Emma tucking her shirt in one handed, reaching her right hand over her torso to get to the left side of her body. He stepped up and silently helped tuck in the last few inches over her left hip where she couldn’t reach, smirking at the startled semi-glare she aimed at him.

“Hey don’t give me that look, I’m your Dad, I’m allowed to help.” He grinned at her small snort, warmed by the fact she hadn’t pulled away from him, or tried to gainsay his claim. David decided to accept the actions for progress and didn’t try to push his luck any further.

They’d arrived at the small ER suite just before 5 am and the next two and a bit hours had been taken up with examinations, x-rays, an MRI and waiting for the results allowing the on call Doctor to treat his patient and give her medical advice he was pretty certain she was unlikely to follow. Emma now sported a set of butterfly stitches over the gash on her cheek and had been told she was lucky that her ribs were only severely bruised and not cracked or broken. David had already had the prescription filled for the anti-inflammatory cream Emma needed for her severely bruised ribs and her black eye and some painkillers to help ease her discomfort.

Emma grabbed her jacket and fished her cell phone out of the pocket before she headed for the gap in the curtain pulled around the examination cubicle she’d been in for the better part of an hour.

“I’ll meet you by the cruiser, I’m just gonna call Ruby and see how Regina and Henry are doing, then we can head over to Gold’s.”

“Emma, it’s only just gone seven, it’s still too early for that. Why don’t we stop in at Granny’s, let her know where Ruby is and grab something to eat?”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass how early it is David. Regina is suffering and I’m not about to wait around for Mr High and Evil to rise and shine at his leisure and just let Regina hang.” The blonde growled out before continuing her path to the ER exit. David pulled her gently but firmly to a halt.

“Emma, wait a minute. I’ve told you I’m going to help you and that’s what I’m going to do, even if sometimes that help is on my terms and not yours.” He pre-empted her protest with a raised hand.

“You haven’t slept properly in over a week, and hardly at all in the past 24 hours. You’ve just taken one hell of a physical beating and you’re angry and scared and not thinking clearly. If anything had changed or gotten worse with Regina, Ruby would have texted or called one of us.” Emma ducked her head a little sheepishly, taking David’s logic on board reluctantly.

“You need to rest a little, eat something and then plan exactly how we’re going to approach Gold so that WE can best help Regina.” He was interrupted by the very loud gurgling and rumbling of his own stomach which had him blushing furiously before he mumbled a finishing statement.

“Yes I’m hungry and want something to eat too, so sue me.”

Emma might have swung back toward feeling annoyed with David if her own stomach hadn’t voiced its equally audible agreement at just the right moment. Her blush now matching her fathers she grudgingly acquiesced to his plan of action and they both headed to the parking lot. David grinned and wisely refrained mentioning anything about shared familial traits.

***

Ruby yawned and stretched, cracking the kinks out of her neck and stood to return the book she’d finished to the bookshelf. She smiled a little sadly at the two sleeping figures, now both on the bed, Henry having somehow migrated in his sleep to cuddle directly against Regina’s body. Ruby had noted the event when it happened but hadn’t intervened because the closer proximity had seemed to completely calm Regina’s writhing and her whimpers of distress. The older woman had remained quiet and still for more than an hour now but in the light of the morning sun Ruby could clearly make out how tense her body was and the strained and distressed expression on her face.

The brunette felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and not wanting to wake Henry she stepped out of the bedroom into the adjoining bathroom to answer the call.

“Hey Em what’d the doctor say?” She listened to her friend’s health update and the plan for her and David to grab a bite to eat before tackling Gold and the Blue Fairy.

“Yes, everything is fine here, well I mean Regina’s still asleep but she has been calm, no thrashing or anything, especially since Henry sort of rolled over onto the bed and cuddled up to her.” The brunette glanced through the door at her charges once more to make sure both were indeed still asleep before pushing the door to and leaving it slightly ajar so she could still hear if anything happened in the next room.

“Should I wake Henry up to get ready for school or should I let him sleep? Gotta say, the poor kid’s had a difficult night and he looks like he’s out for the count.”

Emma hesitated in her reply as she weighed the pros and cons, but finally she confirmed it would be useless to insist he go to school while his mother was still in the same condition, he’d probably just skip out the minute he was dropped off and go back to the mansion. She told Ruby to leave him sleeping until either he woke up on his own or until about 10:00am and then make sure he got some breakfast.

“Any idea when you’ll be back Em? You know I’ll be here as long as you need me, but Granny will need to call someone in to cover for me if I’m going to be here past noon, my shift starts at 12:00 today.”

Emma confirmed either she or David would try to be back at the mansion well before noon and if they couldn’t make that then they’d let Ruby know as soon as they could manage. Planning ahead to deal with Ruby’s absence in the afternoon in case she or David weren’t able to get back in time she tried to figure out who she could trust to with Regina’s safety and realised her options were woefully few. The only person Emma could think of, who remained on friendly terms with Regina after the curse broke was Kathryn Nolan. Unlike the other people in the town she seemed to continue to relate more to Regina the Mayor and loving mother she knew during the time of the curse than the evil queen from the Enchanted Forest. Emma knew that she was the only person other than her and Henry who regularly interacted with Regina these days

“Listen, just in case things go haywire and we can’t get back in time, could you call Kathryn and fill her in on Regina’s condition. If she’s willing, could you ask her to be on standby to relieve you if we need her?

“That’s a great idea Em, I’m sure she’d be willing to help, I think she’s about the closest thing to a friend Regina has, other than you that is.”

“Uh, right, great. Thanks for this Rubes, I owe you, like a lot.”

“Hey, no worries, I have a lot less issues with Regina than a most people in Storybrooke and besides you’re my friend. Good luck with Mr Gold.”

Ruby disconnected the call and went back into the bedroom. Noting the pair in the bed seemed quiet she moved the chaise longue away from the bed and back under the window but angled it so she could still see the bed. She figured if she was going to be here for another few hours she should try and catch a few winks herself. Confident her wolf senses would alert her to any problems the brunette closed her eyes and drifted into a light doze.

Twenty minutes later a slightly disgruntled David sat finishing off his breakfast in the police cruiser outside Emma’s apartment while he waited for her to change her clothes and gather a few things to take back to the mansion. When they got to the diner Emma had ordered their food to go and informed Granny of Ruby’s whereabouts, while he’d texted Snow to let her know he was on his way but he’d be home a little later than usual from his night shift.

When he finished his meal he stepped out of the cruiser to toss his empty take out bags in the dumpster at the side of the apartment block. His thoughts wandered back to when Emma had first moved into the small building just over two months previously.

David recognised the move was for the best, it really had been ridiculously crowded fitting three adults and an eleven year old into a one bedroom apartment once Snow and Emma had returned from the Enchanted Forest. They’d muddled through for a few months, but the serious lack of privacy was a major issue and after both Emma and then Henry had walked in on he and Snow at the most inopportune moment, Emma had made the firm decision that she and Henry needed their own space.

Snow had been quite upset, adamant that they all needed to bond properly as a family and the only way to do that was for them to live together. She’d come up with a few creative and some decidedly bad ideas to convince Emma to stay, including the idea of evicting Regina from the mansion so they could move into the larger house as a family. Emma had totally lost it when Snow had made that suggestion, especially as she’d made no mention of where Regina was supposed to relocate to and had continued to voice her opinion that Henry shouldn’t be staying with Regina at all and Emma should not be fraternising with the Evil Queen either.

David closed his eyes and leant his head back with a sigh. Emma had found this apartment the day after Snow had made the suggestion about the mansion and she and Henry were completely moved out the day after that. Emma had tried, in her way to be gentle yet firm with her mother about what her own needs were in relation to her parents, but Snow’s stubbornness and seeming inability to actually listen to what Emma was telling her had finally caused the blonde to snap. The argument, as usual had been threaded through with the issue of Regina and Henry and Emma’s obvious growing friendship with their long time enemy. Emma had combined the points she was trying to make about her relationship to Snow and David and that between Regina and Henry with her final cutting remark before she stormed off, that sharing DNA did not a parent make.

Snow had been devastated and David had tried to console her even though he happened to agree with Emma. He knew that even though nearly a year had gone by since the curse broke, Snow was still struggling with the reality that the baby she had so loved and had held for mere moments when she was born, was a full grown and independent woman with her own history and personal issues. They’d talked about it at length and he was becoming a bit frustrated with Snow’s refusal or possible inability to allow Emma the space and time she had asked for to process all the extraordinary changes in all their lives.

After hours of talking, he’d finally gotten Snow to grudgingly agree it was a good thing for them to have the space they needed to be able to properly reconnect as a couple, but he imagined it was Emma’s eventual agreement to twice weekly family dinners that had really allowed Snow to slowly accept the new living arrangements. That said, she still worried at the issue of Henry and Emma’s interactions with Regina like a dog with a bone.

“Okay let’s get going.”

Emma’s voice and the opening of the cruiser’s back door snapped David awake and back to the present. As soon as the blonde was buckling in beside him he started the car and they headed to the loft apartment so they could fill Snow in on the situation. Emma had accepted his earlier suggestion that they should split their resources and send Snow to talk to the Blue Fairy while he and Emma went to tackle Gold.


	7. Nightmares crawl through my days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin and what is up with Snow White?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Briar: "They never tell you some things. They tell you mages have wonderful power and they learn all kinds of secrets. Nobody ever mentions that some secrets you don't ever want to learn."   
> Rosethorn: "All you can do is learn good to balance the bad. Learn and do all the good within your reach. Then, if you wake in a sweat, you have something to set against the dream.”   
> ― Tamora Pierce, Street Magic

When they got to the loft David made a beeline for the bathroom and left Emma to fill his wife in on events. He knew it was the coward’s way out, but after a full shift and with no likelihood of rest anytime soon he didn’t feel up to banging his head against the thick, thick wall of Snow’s continued animosity toward Regina.

 

Sitting at the breakfast bar Emma filtered out the background noise of David singing in the shower and watched Snow putting the kettle on to boil. The petite brunette kept her back to Emma as she fiddled with the mugs arranging them and rearranging them rapidly and without pause like she was playing the three shells game.

 

When they’d arrived and Snow first caught sight of Emma’s injuries she’d been all over the blonde fussing and insisting she lie down on the couch and rest while she prattled on about taking care of her baby. Emma, worried, exhausted and hurting had given her short shrift and taken her usual stool at the breakfast bar before she unceremoniously launched into bringing her mother up to speed on recent events.

 

In order to avoid giving Snow any possible encouragement to fuss over her, Emma didn’t look at the brunette, keeping her eyes concentrated on the work surface in front of her as she spoke. Her gaze fixed on her hands she completely missed the look of dismay and guilt when she described her fight with Regina’s dream demons. It was while Emma described last night’s dream events and Regina’s current condition that Snow had manically insisted they all needed something hot to drink and so was currently making tea for everyone with the focus and concentration you would normally use to defuse a bomb.

 

“So what do you think?” Emma prodded when the other woman didn’t answer her final question.

 

“Think? About what?” The brunette continued to keep her back to Emma while she reached for the boiling kettle.

 

“About what? Weren’t you listening to me? About Regina, do you think it’s some form of a sleeping curse? David doesn’t think so from his experience but, well he wasn’t cursed for anywhere near as long as you were so he’s not sure.”

 

Emma waited for an answer but Snow didn’t say anything as she continued to fiddle with the mugs before heading to the fridge for milk. Emma’s last nerve snapped and she stood up so forcefully her stool rocketed back into the wooden beam behind her before tumbling to the floor.

 

“I don’t have time for this crap Mary Margaret, if you don’t know just say so and I can get on with talking to Gold and Blue.” She glared at the small woman.

 

“Oh Emma, no, I’m…I’m sorry I was just thinking, trying to remember.”

The brunette looked stricken at Emma’s reaction but at least she was now facing her and speaking to her. Emma ran her fingers through her hair getting a grip on her anger and her nerves. The longer she was away from Regina the more agitated and worried she was becoming.

 

“Look, I’m sorry okay, I’m really tired and my ribs hurt like hell. I just want to find out what the hell is going on and fix this so Regina can wake up and…” She took a deep breathe to hold back the tears she could feel just beginning to sting the corners of her tired eyes. “I can’t stand to see her tortured like this. I need to get her out of these dreams and away from those demons.”

  
Snow’s hackles rose and her features hardened at Emma’s talk of rescuing the woman who she believed deserved far worse than simple nightmares, even ones infested with demons. After all the crimes Regina had committed, all the lives she took and those she had ruined why should she have the blessing of quiet nights when so many of her surviving victims didn’t have that luxury. She shuddered as images of the fiery room she still found herself in from time to time rose up before her mind’s eye, along with memories of her father. Snow couldn’t stop herself from snapping out some of what she was thinking.

 

“Yes well I’m sure a few restless nights won’t kill her Emma. We all have nightmares, most of them induced by Regina in one way or another so maybe this is a fitting punishment for her.”

 

Emma usually tried to cut Snow some slack, realising that she was just like every other citizen of Storybrooke, trying to navigate the strangeness of their new lives with fractured memories and without the aid of the curse, but Snow’s stubbornness and narrow mindedness were constant irritants to her daughter. Emma couldn’t understand where the sweet tempered pre-broken curse Mary Margaret or the intelligent and resourceful Snow White she’d come to admire in the Enchanted Forest had disappeared to, but she really wasn’t impressed with the cloying, judgemental and sanctimonious woman they seemed to have left in their stead.

 

“A few restless nights?! Did you hear what I was telling you?” Emma angrily pointed at her black eye and cut cheek. “Did you miss these little presents from those demons? God knows what they’re doing to her now that she’s trapped there!” She glared at her mother ignoring David who had walked up behind Snow as she was speaking.

 

“What’s going on?” David asked, the relaxing effects of his shower retreating instantly upon seeing his wife and daughter squaring off over the kitchen counter/breakfast bar. Emma straightened her back and cast Snow a withering glance before answering her father.

 

“Let’s go David; we need to fit in Blue after Gold and I want to get back to Regina.”

 

“Emma no! I mean, please wait, I do want to help. Let me go see Blue while you and David go see Rumpelstiltskin.” Snow gasped out, a note of desperation clear in her voice.

 

Emma paused at the door confused, for some reason her lie detector was pinging like crazy, it had been through most of her conversation with Snow. Her head muddled from lack of sleep and her impatience to be on her way she decided to attribute it to the fact that her mother didn’t really want to help Regina but would reluctantly help her daughter at least. Emma decided she needed all the assistance she could get and accepted Snow’s offer.

 

“Good. You see Blue and call me when you’re done so I can head straight back to the mansion when we’re done with Gold. Come on David.”

 

David gave Snow a quick peck on the cheek and moved toward the door before Emma decided to drag him bodily from the apartment. Neither Emma nor David noticed the continued look of panic and guilt on Snow’s face as she followed several feet behind them, grabbing her car keys from the bowl by the door and reaching for her coat in the same motion. It was a look that would remain firmly fixed her entire trip to the convent.

 

**

“Gold!”

 

Emma’s voice rang out much louder than the small bell that would normally have announced entrance to the shop. There was a short pause before the clicking gait of the man’s tread and cane was heard seconds before he appeared from the back room of the shop.

 

“Something I can help you with Sheriff?”

 

Emma took a deep breath trying to control her reaction to seeing Gold for the first time since she’d dealt with his doppelganger demon. Nerves raw, she moved toward the counter.

 

“Was it you?” She growled out.

 

“Was it me? I don’t know what you mean. Perhaps a few more details would help Miss Swan. I’m a sorcerer not a clairvoyant.” He gave a smirking chuckle. “Well at least not anymore, that particular power doesn’t seem to have transferred to this world.”

 

Emma suppressed a shudder as his chuckle caused her to remember the cackling sing song voice of the taunts the demon had thrown at her before straightening her shoulders and marching up to the counter and leaning forward right into his face.

 

“Don’t mess with me Gold. Did you curse Regina? And don’t forget I don’t need to be a clairvoyant to tell if you’re lying.”

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Miss Swan. I assure you I haven’t cursed anyone not even the Evil Queen.”

 

Emma scowled at the name and leant even further forward causing Gold to take a step back. David came up behind her and put a restraining hand on her arm. Emma stopped her forward motion but didn’t acknowledge him more than that.

 

“Her name is Regina. You won’t call her the Evil Queen again in my hearing if you know what’s good for you.”

 

Mr Gold took another step back but smirked at Emma’s bravado as he did so.

 

“Indeed? Well then, _Regina_...”

 

His smirk deepened before he continued.

 

“…is under a curse is she? I’m assuming from your choice of words that she is still alive at least.”

 

He paused to adjust his stance putting both hands on his cane and leant slightly forward.

 

“As I said, I’ve not cursed anyone… recently that is.”

 

Emma hated how the man always measured and twisted his words in order to manipulate every conversation, every interaction. She was in no mood for his tricks or games, but she needed help so she tamped down on her dislike for the man and continued.

 

“Okay. I believe you.” She took a deep breath and continued. “She seems to be under some kind of sleeping curse, but it’s not like the ones Snow, Aurora or Henry and David were under, and I seem to be connected to it as well.”

 

Emma saw the quirk of interest in Gold’s deep hazel eyes.

 

“Connected, how?” The blandness of his voice was at odds with the glimmer of interest in his eyes, a glimmer that grew in intensity as Emma described the events of the past weeks and Regina’s current condition.

 

“So, do you know what kind of curse it is? Do you know how we can break it?”

 

Gold took a step forward the glint in his eye becoming sharper and obviously more avaricious, showing the direction of his thoughts quite clearly.

 

“Oh indeed, I know the curse and how to break it.”

 

Emma’s muscles warred with themselves wanting to relax because she was making progress and to wanting to tense further waiting for what conditions Gold might come up with for providing the information she needed. She braced herself when she saw the feral smirk form on the older man’s face.

 

“But as you know Miss Swan, information like magic, comes with a price. Are you willing to pay the price Sheriff?”

 

Emma stayed silent watching him and assessing what kind of price or deal he’d demand, knowing even if she agreed the price there would be a sting somewhere in the help he might offer. Not for the first time she wondered how the people of Storybrooke could so easily gloss over this man’s evil deeds and obvious manipulation of Regina and focus all their hate on her instead.

 

“I’d rather have the price from Regina, but I’ll take payment from you if I have to.”

 

Emma remained silent and still, trying to think ahead. God, she hated this, hated having to deal with Gold, hated him and all his games.

 

“Well Dearie? Do we make a deal? Are you willing to pay for Regina?”

 

Something in the tone of his words caused Emma to snap, she’d finally had enough. She leapt, sailing over the counter top so quickly the man behind it didn’t have the time to blink, before he felt the cold barrel of the Sheriff’s revolver pressing into his neck at the same time his back collided with the wall behind him. David, equally taken by surprise stepped forward fumbling to get his own gun free.

 

“Screw your magic, you’re in my world now Rumpelstiltskin. I may not be able to harness my magic yet but I do know how to use the business end of a .45. So let me be crystal clear, there will be no deals, no price for anyone but you. You’ll be footing the bill for this one. According to my ledger you are hip deep in debt to Regina and knee deep to me.”

 

She pushed the barrel even deeper into his neck.

 

“Let’s just say I’m here to collect _some_ of that debt. Now what is this curse and how do we break it?”

 

Emma kept the gun pressed into his neck, not willing to back off until she got what she needed to help Regina. Gold made a small gesture with his hand and Emma felt a strange heat coming from the handle of the gun, a heat that increased rapidly. Ignoring the pain Emma glared at Gold and pushed the barrel even more firmly into his neck.

 

“Pain makes me clench my hands Stiltskin, you know, flexes my trigger finger. You sure you wanna do what you’re doing?”

 

She gave him her own feral smile showing her determination, before she felt the gun handle begin to cool.

 

“I think we have a stalemate Miss Swan. I won’t help you for nothing and if you kill me you won’t get your answers either.” He sneered at her, confident in his position despite his uncertain magic control.

 

“You’re right. Well you’re right about the problem with killing you anyway.”

 

Emma grinned at him before she moved and quick as a flash her arms were realigned, one hand firmly grasping Gold’s throat and the other pressing her gun painfully into his crotch.

 

“But then I don’t have to kill you to cause you a world of pain now do I?” She gave a wicked chuckle that caused both Gold and David to shiver in dread.

 

“That’s the only deal you’re going to get Stiltskin. Tell me what the curse is and how to break it and you get to keep your manhood.”

 

She pressed the gun into his groin causing him to yelp in pain and try to squirm away from the pressure of the barrel. He looked into the hard green gaze and new he was cornered. His magical experiments over the past few months, while sometimes fruitful, had served mainly to highlight just how unwieldy it was to use magic in this world. He realised he had little choice but to acquiesce to the blonde’s demands, and it irked him no end to be in this helpless situation. However being the Dark One aside, one thing that he definitely knew just from being Rumpelstiltskin, was that running away meant you could come back another day.

 

“Well Miss Swan it would seem my options are severely limited. Fine I’ll help you. Now could you kindly remove your gun from my codpiece?”

 

Emma looked at him, gauged his sincerity, no pings on her radar appeared, but Rumpelstiltskin was the master of twisted meanings so she decided to be very clear, bind him to a deal and deny him any come back.

 

“I will, when we finalise what the agreement is between us.”

Emma grinned when she saw his eyes narrow in suspicion before they closed and he winced in reaction to her pressing the gun firmly into his groin once more.  


“That’s right O Dark One; I will be providing the details for this agreement, not you. You will tell me what this curse is that Regina is under. You’ll tell me everything you know, suspect, or have ever heard or read about the curse from other sources, how it is cast, who could cast it and how you think the curse might be affected by having been cast in this world. You will tell me all of the ways the curse can be broken, every detail and every possible outcome or side effect that might be associated with any particular action. If magic ingredients or potions are necessary you will provide them or make them correctly and with no omissions or additions to their required effect to break the curse and ensure Regina is unharmed.”

 

Emma paused running over what she’d said looking for any possible loopholes Gold might try to slip through. On the third run through she decided the wording would cover all eventualities to her advantage and not his.

 

“I will accept this information and assistance and the successful release of Regina from the curse in good health physically and mentally as payment from you for all the ways your scheming and manipulations screwed my life over in the past. Acceptance on your part nullifies any debt you owe to me and any debt you feel or think I owe to you, or any debt I actually owe you. Your debts to Regina remain intact and will be for her to collect on.”

 

Emma leaned in till she was literally nose to nose with the man grinding her gun painfully into him as she did so.

 

“If you twist, change or ignore any detail I just listed, if you lie or leave anything out whatsoever or if Regina, myself or any third parties are harmed by the information and assistance you provide then the deal is void and I will be back to collect on your debt to me. Likewise if you attack me, Regina or any third party before providing the information you will immediately suffer the same fate as the person you harm.”

 

Emma kept her grip on Gold’s neck firm but eased up a little on his groin and moved back slightly to get his answer.

 

“Do you agree to every detail and clause I just stated? Do you agree that your verbal assent is as binding as any written contract you have ever made before? Saying the phrase; _‘Yes I. Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One also known as Mr Gold agree to this deal as detailed and stated by Emma Swan. I agree the deal being made at gunpoint does not nullify or make it void as the gun merely cancels out my powers as the Dark One. I make the deal with Emma Swan, also known as Princess Emma, daughter of Snow White and Prince David sometimes called James or Charming,’_ will make this a magically endorsed and binding contract between us.”

 

When she saw the deep frown etch itself on Gold’s features Emma felt she’d done a pretty thorough job in heading off any ways for him to get out of the agreement should he accept her terms. She remained vigilant, grip still in place on his throat as he thought and made his decision. Emma felt the growl in Gold’s throat before the words actually left his lips. Slowly and clearly Rumpelstiltskin ground out each word of Emma’s devising, binding himself to the first ever deal that he had not written himself. The damned Saviour had well and truly cornered him and he would be bound to honour this agreement as thoroughly as any of his victims had been bound to his deals.

 

When Gold had finally finished and was truly bound Emma let go of his throat and took a step back pulling her gun away from his groin but kept it in her hand rather than holstering the weapon. David, still standing beside her let out the breath he’d been holding as he watched his daughter threaten and then best the Dark One. His legs were a little weak from all the tension, but he was bursting with fatherly pride nonetheless as he patted her on the back in congratulation.

 

 

Thoughts of revenge already running through his mind, Gold glared at the pair of them and tutted his impatience with the display. Emma raised her eyebrow at his exasperated clucking and waved her empty hand at him to begin.

 

“Given the detailed constraints you’ve put me under this is likely to take some time to explain. You’ll understand when I say I’m less than happy to invite you to make yourselves comfortable here, so might I suggest we adjourn to the Sheriff’s station?”

 

Gold didn’t bother to wait for a reply as he moved around the counter and moved toward the door. Emma and David shrugged at each other happy enough to agree to the location and followed the limping form through the door.

 

Snow White arrived at the Convent and haphazardly parked her station wagon before hurrying through the main doors. Absently giving small waves to the few fairies she passed, she made a straight line to the door at the end of the corridor still labelled, ‘Mother Superior’ and pushed it open without bothering to knock.

 

The Blue Fairy, still dressed as a nun, looked up in surprise but smiled when she saw it was Snow. She didn’t immediately register the woman’s nervous agitation and automatically invited her friend and ward to sit down.

 

“We have a problem Blue.” Snow blurted out as she frantically began wringing her hands together.

 

“Oh?”

 

Snow raised guilt-stricken eyes to the fairy.

 

“Emma knows.”

 

Blue gasped and fell to her chair in shock.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	8. Hexed is hexed, or is it?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally Emma gets some answers that she can use to help Regina, but she's not the only one who is making plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A shout out to Jhec for her patience and encouragement to my muse to get her ruddy finger out and tapping on the keyboard to continue this story.

“Strange, I thought, how you can be living your dreams and your nightmares at the very same time.”  
― [Ransom Riggs](http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3046613.Ransom_Riggs), [_Hollow City_](http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/17377739)

 

Entering the main room of the Sherriff’s station, David moved immediately to the coffee machine to start a new pot. He felt like he was running on fumes, the revitalisation of his earlier shower lost in the adrenalin rush of Emma’s confrontation with Mr Gold. He was hoping that now Emma had trapped Gold into helping them they’d be able to sort out this whole mess and they’d all get some much needed sleep. As soon as the coffee was ready he poured two large mugs and went to join the subjects of his musings in the Sherriff’s office.

Emma gratefully accepted the mug from her father and settled back in her desk chair waving her free hand toward Gold, sitting in the visitor’s chair, to begin.

“First of all, I’m basing this entirely on your descriptions and I really should examine the Evil Q…” He paused and backtracked a little when Emma scowled at him over the rim of her mug before slamming it down on her desk.

“As I was saying I’ll need to examine Regina to confirm my suspicions.”

“Fine, just get on with telling us what you think is going on.” Emma growled.

“Based on your descriptions I believe the… Mayor has been hexed.”

Emma’s brow creased in confusion.

“I thought you agreed she was cursed?” The Sheriff leaned forward in her seat.

“That was before you described the situation, the details you supplied point to Regina having been hit with a Dreaming hex.” He clicked his teeth in annoyance when the blonde interrupted him once more.

“So there’s a difference between a curse and a hex?”

While stating her question she noted the immediate spark of triumph that appeared in the man’s dark eyes. Emma quickly ran over in her mind the words she’d used in their agreement and immediately realised the possible loop hole the slippery snake in front of her would try to slip through. She put her hand up to stop his reply, and reached down to open the bottom drawer of her desk, digging round in it till she pulled out a large hardbound book. She thumped it down on the desk in front of her and flicked through the thin pages looking for something before she flipped one page back and began to read. Scanning down the page she smiled and tapped her finger near the bottom before swinging the book around so Gold could see where her finger was pointing.

“My world, my definitions Gold so don’t even try it.”

Emma smiled down at the dictionary between them where a hex was clearly described as a spell or curse. She’d be damned if the Dark One was going to weasel out of their agreement because she’d consistently used the word curse instead of hex.

“Pah!” He glared at the print and then up at Emma before pushing the offending book across the desk. “Fine! A hex is still a curse.”

“So why did you make a distinction? What’s a Dreaming hex?”

“In _my_ world a hex is enacted differently than a curse in that it works through a talisman.”

“A talisman? What’s that?”

Gold slapped his hand down on his arm rest aggravated with Emma’s constant interruptions.

“Miss Swan we might actually get around to me discharging my obligation to you if you’d let me say more than one sentence at a time!”

Emma smirked but sat back and again waved her hand for him to proceed.

“As I was saying, while some curses _might_ incorporate a talisman, a hex absolutely requires one. In order to hex someone you imbue an object with a spell that will enact the hex when the intended victim comes into contact with the item. For something such as a dreaming hex that is meant to activate only under specific circumstances like a time of day or an action such as during sleep, the talisman must be something that stays within proximity to the person you want to hex.”

Gold paused expecting Emma to interrupt to demand more details, but the Sheriff remained silently attentive so he shrugged and carried on.

“For a limited type of hex all one would normally need to do is remove the talisman from the vicinity of the victim and the hex should be removed as well.”

A sour look slipped onto Gold’s face and the next sentence was growled out reluctantly.

“You can accomplish the same effect by removing the victim from proximity to the talisman. However if you fail to destroy the talisman the hex will enact all over again if the victim ever comes within the active area of the hexed item, so you need to destroy the talisman as soon as you identify it and get the victim away from the proximal effects.”

“So if we find whatever talisman that’s hexed Regina and get it or her away from each other you can destroy it right?”

“Possibly.”

“Possibly? What the hell do you mean by that?” Emma’s anger rose at Gold slipping back into his usual aggravating cryptic half answers. This time he didn’t seem phased by her reaction but he did answer her question.

“With a standard Dreaming hex, the talisman can only be destroyed during the inactive time of the hex.”

“Meaning Regina has to wake up first.” The words were whispered and despairing as Emma slumped in her chair.

David took the opportunity to remind them of his presence.

“But that shouldn’t be a problem. We find the talisman and separate it from Regina, she wakes up because she’s outside its range and we destroy the thing then.”

Emma sat up in relief smiling at her father before she looked to Gold for confirmation of David’s words. The older man still looked grim and didn’t answer.

“David’s right isn’t he Gold?”

“Well he would be if this was the Enchanted Forrest, but as you’ve said Saviour this is _your_ world, and magic doesn’t work the same way here. A dreaming hex is time sensitive Dearie, it should only work during the appointed times and yet…” He trailed off leaving Emma to finish the thought.

“It’s daytime and Regina isn’t waking up.”

“Exactly. Definitely not standard results for the hex type.”

Silence reigned in the office for a few minutes while Emma and David processed the information Gold had given them.

“Could her staying asleep be something deliberately built into the hex?”

Gold appeared taken aback at the idea but after a moment’s thought, he shook his head in the negative.

“Are you sure? I mean how do I fit into this hex? I’ve been in those dreams too, could that have changed things? I mean if this hex has to have a talisman that’s in proximity to the dreamer, how the hell did I end up in her dreams? I was nearly a mile away in my own bed so we couldn’t have both been near the talisman. Could we? How far is the proximity you mentioned?” Emma took a breath to continue her list of questions but decided to wait for some answers first.

“The proximity aspect has two factors, one the victim has to initially touch the talisman to first activate it and secondly it then needs to remain no more than a foot away from them for the timed element of the hex to work.”

Gold paused in his explanation his mouth dry and his lips pursed in displeasure before he drawled.

“As your visit to my shop was so unexpected this morning I wasn’t able to offer you any morning hospitality.”

He eyed the mugs that David and Emma were sipping from before sneeringly continuing.

“My throat is quite parched. Perhaps I might get a cup of that coffee so I might continue to _help_ you Sheriff Swan?”

David snorted but immediately rose to fill a mug for the older man before resuming his seat. The pause had allowed Emma’s brain to tick forward with a dozen more questions she wanted answers for and she started scratching them down on the notepad on her desk wanting to be certain she didn’t forget a single one.  

Gold took a sip from the mug and placed it in front of him grimacing a little at the quality of the brew before he continued with his explanation and answered the blondes follow up questions. Despite himself, Gold was forced to admit, if only to himself, that Emma was being admirably insightful and thorough in her hunt for the information she needed to help her former enemy. That thought made him curious as to why the Saviour was so invested in helping the Evil Queen, eyeing the agitated blonde he gave a mental snort and amended the thought to, ‘ _Regina_.’ Rallying his attention he moved on to exploring possible ways to address the problems at hand, such as Emma’s connection to the hex. The sooner this was all over, the sooner he could get back to remastering his magic…he had his own plans after all.

*****

The Blue Fairy adjusted her posture sitting up straighter in her desk chair attempting to process the shock of Snow White’s declaration. The upset and agitated Snow, sat opposite her, rocking backward and forward holding her stomach as if it ached. Blue ignored her, her mind turned inward and whirring with thoughts on how to deal with this unexpected and certainly unwelcome news. Her attention was suddenly brought back to the other woman when the brunette abruptly stopped her rocking and spoke again.

“Blue, something’s gone terribly wrong! Emma, she’s been hurt. In the dream world, somehow she got beaten to a pulp, cuts and bruises everywhere and badly bruised ribs, she looks terrible.” She eyed the fairy accusingly before continuing.

“You promised nothing would happen to her! You said she’d just be a spectator to Regina’s punishment, that the punishing spirits wouldn’t be able to harm her. I never wanted Emma to be hurt, I only wanted her to see and finally understand that Regina ruined so many lives, killed so many people, that she should be punished for her actions, not let off like nothing before the curse being broken counts.”

Snow White’s shoulders slumped in defeat as she whispered the last of her fears now that her plans had gone astray.

“When she finds out it was me, Emma will never speak to me again. What am I going to do? My daughter’s going to hate me.”

Blue’s eyebrows shot up at her words and she leant eagerly forward.

“Wait, are you saying she doesn’t actually know it was us who hexed the Evil Queen? Who does she think it was? What exactly does the Saviour know Snow White?”

Snow recounted everything Emma had said to her at the loft ending with her husband and daughter’s intent to confront Gold and try to get information about Regina’s condition from him. A slow and decidedly nasty smile made its way across the fairy’s face in reaction to Snow’s more detailed information. A plan quickly formed in her mind to not only permanently punish her long time victim, Regina but also to escape the Saviour’s potential just retribution by shifting the blame for the hex onto the Dark One himself. Plan firmly set in her mind, Blue returned her attention to the woman opposite her internally smirking at the look of confused uncertainty on Snow’s face probably brought about by the less than fairy like expressions she’d allowed to show as she thought.

Blue easily slipped on her mask of fairy kindness and concern, struggling not to snicker at the noticeable relaxing of Snow’s shoulders as she spoke with a familiar kindly voice.

“Not to worry Snow, all is not lost, it appears that Emma hasn’t connected the dots and I’m sure we can manage to ensure that she never does, you won’t lose your daughter’s love I promise.”

“How can we make sure Emma doesn’t find out? She’s very clever Blue and very tenacious.” Snow couldn’t help a small grin before continuing. “She gets that from both her parents.”

Blue refrained from commenting, but it was a near thing, Snow’s smug self-absorption and self-righteousness was just so cloying and annoying it tested her patience.

“Yes of course, and that’s one of the things we’re going to count on to make sure her trail leads her away from us and straight to the Dark One instead.” She leant forward as she began to outline her plan, hoping earnestly that Snow would be able to handle her pivotal role in its success.

“Well, first off you absolutely must get Emma’s talisman back immediately so that she is unable to return to Regina’s dreams. Then I want you to…..”

As the Blue fairy continued to outline her plan to Snow White, not too far away, Emma, David and Gold were headed to the mansion so Gold could confirm the hex and hopefully so that Emma could break it and rescue Regina from her nocturnal demons. 


End file.
